Te'o takes Lombardi to go with others

News-Sentinel staff report

Thursday, December 06, 2012 12:01 am

It was another day for Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, which meant yet another national honor.The Notre Dame senior won the Rotary Lombardi Award, which is presented to college football's best lineman or linebacker.

He is the second player in college football history to capture the Butkus, Nagurski and Lombardi awards in the same season.

Te'o recently became Notre Dame's 186th first-team All-America selection (AFCA). A National Scholar-Athlete by the National Football Foundation, Te'o also is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Bednarik Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year and Lott Trophy.

If Te'o were to receive a combination of any three of the following five awards - Maxwell, Bednarik, Walter Camp, Heisman or Lott - he would take home an unprecedented six major college football awards.

Te'o leads the Irish with 103 tackles. He is the second Notre Dame player to ever collect at least 100 tackles in three consecutive seasons (Bob Crable, 1979-81). Te'o is the third player in Irish history to record 400 career tackles and currently ranks third in school history with 427 stops.

Te'o has recorded seven interceptions in 2012, which is tied for second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total interceptions. He has set a Notre Dame single-season record for most interceptions by a linebacker. In fact, no FBS linebacker in the past 11 seasons has collected more single-season interceptions than Te'o. He has generated nine total turnovers (seven interceptions and two fumble recoveries), which is tied for the most of any FBS player. Te'o has actually played a role in 11 of the 23 turnovers forced by Notre Dame's defense in '12. In addition to the seven interceptions and two fumble recoveries, he has hurried two quarterbacks on plays that directly resulted in interceptions.

Te'o has started 48 career games at Notre Dame, including each of the last 47 contests. That is the longest streak of any linebacker in the nation and fourth longest of any defensive player in the country.

Top-ranked Notre Dame will play second-ranked Alabama on January 7, 2013, for the BCS National Championship.

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